Reviewed and updated October 11, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and October 11, 2026.
Key West, Florida, in Monroe County, has about 25,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Florida the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller; the statewide criminal history kept by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Key West is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Key West public records, Monroe County criminal records, Key West arrest records, Key West warrants, Key West inmate search, Key West court records, Florida arrest records and Florida inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Monroe County Circuit Court
A criminal case from Key West is filed in the Monroe County Circuit Court or the County Court, which takes misdemeanors, traffic cases, small claims and civil cases up to $50,000, and the court file, kept by the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, is the record of it that the public may see.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at monroecounty-fl.gov/m/directory/department?did=75 (page title: Staff Directory, Clerk of The Court (Key West)), phone 305-295-3130, 500 Whitehead Street Key West, FL 33040, Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 11, 2026.
Florida has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
The Florida Criminal History and Your Own Copy
Florida is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: anyone can run a name-based criminal history search online for $24, for $24 a search, through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it. The search is on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement site.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Key West
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Key West (filed by the FBI as Key West Police Department) keep the arrest records in and around Key West: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places one state police unit and five state agencies in Monroe County (the arrest records guide names each one); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the two agencies in Monroe County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 4,300 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Key West arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Key West in 2025
The agency that reports for Key West had 66 violent and 380 property crimes reported for 2025; each one is a report on file with it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The Sex Offender Registry for Key West
Registered sex offenders living in Key West are listed on the Florida Sexual Offenders and Predators Registry, run by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement at offender.fdle.state.fl.us. The registry is public and can be searched online.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Monroe County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Florida Public Records Act (Chapter 119) a county office must answer a request promptly and in good faith; the statute sets no number of days, and it may charge the copy fees set by statute, plus a special service charge for large requests.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Key West?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement: anyone can run a name-based criminal history search online for $24, for $24. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Florida Public Records Act (Chapter 119).
Can I search Key West criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at monroecounty-fl.gov (page title: Staff Directory, Clerk of The Court (Key West)).
How do I get my own Florida criminal history?
Through the same search, run on yourself.
Is this the official Key West website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.